The Scooby Gang
by Amara120
Summary: BuffyScooby Doo II crossover. The Scoobies meet Mysteries Inc. when Velma comes to guest lecture at UC Sunnydale… but all sorts of trouble arise when the professional ghostbusters begin to snoop around. COMPLETE
1. Chap 1

Title: The Scooby Gang

Distribution: Sure, just let me know.

Spoilers: up to the middle of season 5 Buffy

Parings: Not a romance fic. Cannon stuff; Willow/Tara, Buffy/Riley, Xander/Anya, Velma/Patrick(Oz). Plus Giles/Ethan for the challenge.

Summary: **Challenge Response**.

Challenge can be viewed at: vampirecows . com / odd / challenges / CH45scoobiedoo . html # (no spaces)

Buffy/Scooby Doo II crossover. The Scoobies meet Mysteries Inc. when Velma comes to guest lecture at UC Sunnydale… but all sorts of trouble arise when the professional ghostbusters begin to snoop around.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not even the plot: my muse forced me to write this at gun point when I happened across the challenge. Seriously. Of course, maybe I should avoid google-ing challenges. The characters, settings, ect. of Buffy and Scooby Doo belong to Joss and IFILM, Corp and have been used here solely for amusement purposes.

Author's Note: I haven't actually seen the Scooby Doo movie, so this is going to be based off the cartoon except for the Oz requirement. Set in the BtVS in season 5, sometime after Family. This is obviously going to be very AU-ish, but I maintain that it _could_ have conceivably happened. Also, I don't speak Latin so I am used an on-line translator for the spells. This means I have no idea if the grammar or meaning is right.

THE SCOOBY GANG

"Okay gang this is it," Fred said pushing down on the breaks slightly too hard, bringing the Mystery Machine to a jolting stop outside of the hotel. Groaning, Velma and Daphne quickly undid their belts and hopped out onto the asphalt.

"So this is Sunnydale," Daphne said, interlocking her fingers and stretching her arms up over her head. "It seems pleasant."

"I think it's nice," Velma agreed, straitening her skirt. "Lovely weather for one thing. I don't see why Patrick acted so weird about it when I mentioned this was where the conference would be."

"Yeah, Sunnydale. It's like way better than creepy-old-abandoned-houses-filled-with-ghosts-and-ghouls-dale that we normally stay at. No monsters or criminals; just good old rest and relaxation. Eh, Scoob?" Shaggy commented as he and Scooby Doo climbed out of the back.

"Wright Wraggy!"

"Wait Velma, back up. You said Patrick thought something was weird in Sunnydale?" Fred asked eagerly, trying to look like he wasn't straining under all the suitcases.

"No Fred. I said he _acted_ weird, not that he thought there was something weird here. He was just quiet and wouldn't talk about it with me."

"Since when is that weird? Patrick hardly ever talks."

Daphne's eyes narrowed and she laid a hand protectively on Velma's shoulder, who had started to study the ground. "Why don't you take those bags up to the rooms Fred?"

"Right! Uh, sure," Fred said quickly, having no idea what he'd done to deserve the evil glare Daphne was giving him and eager to escape. "Only be a minute."

Shaggy, marginally smarter than Fred, patted his tummy. "I'm starved," he announced. "Come on old buddy let's be gentlemen and go pick up a couple pizzas for dinner."

"Gentlemen hehehehe," Scooby added, giving Velma's face a quick swipe with his tongue before bounding ahead of Shaggy.

Leaning against the hood of the Mystery Machine Daphne folded her arms and waited until the boys were out of ear shot as Velma futilely scrubbed her hand against the spot on her cheek Scooby had licked.

"So what's up with Patrick? That wasn't a boyfriend glowy look."

"I don't know. He had been very supportive and excited about the gang going and talking at a University and us getting a vacation from Coolsville; but then, when he found out it was in Sunnydale, he just changed. It's very suspicious that he got sick and had to stay home too. I don't know Daphne; I mean after that whole ordeal we know he's not like some criminal pretending to be a monster or a real-demon-that-we-tell-the-public-is-a-costumed-villain, but I have a bad feeling about this. He's hiding something from me."

"You'll figure this out," Daphne rubbed her friend's shoulder, knowing how insecure she could be. "He loves you right? Just talk to him when we get back." Seeing that Velma still looked slightly bummed Daphne tacked on: "We could always threaten to send him on the next case alone with Fred, then he'd tell us anything we wanted to know."

Velma gave her a weak but genuine smile. "Thank you."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for; emotional advice and using common cosmetics in extra-ordinary ways to defeat evil."

The two girls regard each other for a moment before breaking into giggles just as Fred risked coming back outside.

"Alright we're all checked in. Where are Shag and Scooby?"

"They went to get pizza," Daphne replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank yous to my readers and reviewers, I'm glad you are liking the story so far.

CHAPTER 2

"Next!" the woman behind the counter called buffeting her long nails. Her dower disposition and clothing completely at odds with the cheerful red apron proclaiming 'Welcome to Pepper's Pizzeria.' She looked expectantly at the lanky man and the dog following him.

"Hi," Shaggy said cheerfully, already salivating at the aroma of baking pizzas. "We'll have four large pizzas with everything, two plain cheese larges, one with extra-cheese, four cokes and a sprite, and breadsticks, oooh and do you have any of those dessert pizzas? Like with chocolate on them?"

"No."

"Better add like another two orders of breadsticks then."

"Four large pizza's with everything, two cheese, three breadsticks, and five drinks. That'll be $76.39. We'll call you when it's ready. Thank you for eating at Pepper's please dine with us again. Next!"

"Come on Scoob, no sense in waiting standing up." Shaggy led the way over to a table near the juke box. They sat in a sprawled fashion, each taking up their respective bench. Suddenly Scooby's ear perked forward.

"Wraggy look!" He exclaimed, pointing.

"Daphne!" Shaggy cried.

Daphne was sitting at a corner table with three other girls, a redhead that resembled Velma and two blonds, and a dark haired man, who appeared to be attached to one of the blonds. She didn't look up a Shaggy's cry, so he got up and went over to her table. "Daphne," he began, stopping when he noticed her outfit. She was wearing a tight black tank top and form fitting jeans. "Daphne!"

"I'm sorry," she said, looking up. Her eyes where hazel-blue, not brown, he noticed. And her hair was slightly curly. "Are you talking to me?"

"Sorry," Shaggy apologized. "You look exactly like a friend of mine."

"It's no big, I'm Buffy."

"Shaggy and this is Scooby Doo."

"Willow, Tara, Anya, and Xander," Buffy said nodding to each of her friends in turn.

"Scooby Doo?" Willow interrupted. "I heard Mysteries Inc. was coming to give a talk on campus but I didn't realize it was this soon. Wow, this is so cool! You guys are so awesome going up against all those demons." Seeing the look her friends where giving her, Willow added, "I mean, I know how hard that is and you don't even have a Slayer or magic or anything!"

"Will," Buffy interrupted when she paused to inhale. "Breath."

"Buffy, this is Scooby Doo and Shaggy from Mysteries Inc. You know we're the _Scoobies_ right?"

"I have to side with Will on this one Buff. Wow, and may I add Zer! I'm Xander; it's nice to meet you." The guy offered his hand, looking just as star-struck as the red head. Scooby grabbed it and pumped Xander's arm vigorously.

"Xander I think you should pay some attention to me now," Anya said. "Xander's my boyfriend," She addressed Shaggy. "You can't have him."

"Anya, honey, I'm straight."

"So was Willow when you kissed her when you where dating Cordelia, which turned out to be a good thing because then Cordy got all upset so I was sent to help her with the vengeance stuff but then my necklace got broken and I lost my powers --and was very angry about that! But I'm over it now because I have you but I want to keep you so it's important for other people to know that you're mine."

"Wow Will, I think your babble is contagious."

"You catch any of that Scoob?" Shaggy asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Uh huh Uh huh."

"Groovy."

"So," Buffy said, taking back control of the conversation. "You're giving a talk at the university?"

"Yeah. Well it's mostly Velma's deal; she's like taking over this psych professor's classes, the rest of us are like just for the question and answer session."

"P-p-professor Walsh's c-classes?" the other blond spoke up. Watching the intensity in her blue eyes Shaggy missed Willow subtly threading their fingers together below the cover of the table.

"Yep." Shaggy watched puzzled as friends shared a communal worried glance. "Am I like missing something?"

Xander gave an ironic half smile. "I hate to be the downer here, but Professor Walsh was killed by a demon-"

"Demon!"

"Vwemon!"

"Why us Scoob?" Shaggy sobbed.

"Hey it's of the good though," Willow interrupted their panic. "Buffy's the Slayer. And she, well, Slayed it. I mean we helped with the powerful magics and all. You see, I cast this spell so that me and Giles, he's Buffy's Watcher, create like this super Buffy and we did this big fight thing and she ripped out his uranium core. It was very cool." She shared a smile with Tara. "So poof, no more bad guy."

"Oh phew. There, you see Scoob? Nothing to worry about." Shaggy said, trying to act causual.

"All's well in the world. Plus, now Glory's got everyone tied up, so even the garden variety Vamps are at a minimum." To her credit, Buffy didn't let her fear seep out into that statement, although _her_ Scoobies all knew it was there. They all shared that fear after all.

"Vampires! Glory! Oh Nooo! ...Wait, who's Glory?"

_Good question,_ Buffy thought.

"The latest Big Bad; but don't worry, Buffy can take her… I hope," Willow explained. "Hey maybe we can walk you back to your hotel and meet the rest of the Mysteries Inc. for like protection, just incase any vampires show up?"

"Will this take long?" Anya asked. "Xander promised me orgasms."

The dark young man reddened noticeably. "You didn't hear that. An' we talked about how we don't share details of our sex lives in public."

"That wasn't details, details would be if I mentioned how you –"

Xander clamped his hand firmly over Anya's mouth. "We'll be leaving now. It was nice meeting you." He stood up and dragged Anya out of the booth and towards the door.

"Don't mind Anya, she's just like that," Buffy told a very shell shocked Shaggy and Scooby.

"Like no comment," Shaggy finally said once he could get his mouth working.

"Actually about the walking thing, I'd love to go but I have to check in with Giles before meeting Riley for patrol. Its not quite sundown yet, so you should be safe. Plus Will' and Tara are both big bad Wicca's, their mojo should be able to handle any Vamps that come your way."

Willow visibly preened at the praise for her Wiccan skills.

"S-so where are you staying?" Tara asked.

"At the Days Inn a few blocks from here. It's pretty close to the campus so we can walk there on nice days rather than have to risk Fred's driving with the Mystery Machine." Shaggy said, smiling at her.

"Wikes!" Scooby added, backing up Shaggy's assessment of Fred's diving skills.

"Cool." Tara said, nodding her head.

"I take it Fred's not a good driver?" Willow asked. "If he's anything like Buffy I don't blame you."

"Hey! I'm not that bad a diver. Okay there was that one time in high school with Mo-," Buffy broke off and then went on with a false cheerfulness. "With the van, but in my defense she should have never given me those keys."

"Well she was kinda high on dark magic chocolate," Willow allowed. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to split though. Gotta get over to Giles. Glory. Danger. Slayer. Bye Shaggy. It was nice to meet you, um, both of you. Will, Tara." Buffy stood up and exited almost as fast as Xander and Anya had.

"I shouldn't have brought that up," Willow said guiltily, glumly looking at the table top.

"It wasn't your fault," Tara said quickly, shifting closer to Willow and squeezing her hand. "Y-you just mentioned Buffy was bad at driving."

Willow looked up at Tara with sad eyes and half-smiled. She leaned into Tara's welcoming shoulder, accepting the comfort her girlfriend was offering.

Shaggy and Scooby, who had gotten lost earlier during the conversation (knowing nothing about Buffy's Mom's ill health or the bewitched chocolate incident), suddenly jumped to their feet as another garbled announcement came from the microphone at the counter. As far as both Willow and Tara knew there where no actual words in the announcement, they had all relied on Buffy's Slayer hearing to tell when their orders had been ready, but Shaggy and Scooby both had super senses when it came to anything related to food.

"That's us!" Shaggy informed the girls.

"W-wow, you could u-understand that?" Tara asked, looking impressed.

"It's a gift," Shaggy said modestly.

The four of them proceeded to the counter. Willow and Tara offered to help carry the stuff, but in the end only Tara wound up carrying one of the bags of breadsticks. Burdened by tall stacks of pizza boxes Shaggy and Scooby lead the way out into the darkening streets of Sunnydale.

They kept up a light conversation back to the hotel, although Tara would occasionally have to touch Willow's arm to remind her that she was babbling when her nerves about meeting Mysteries Inc. got the better of her.

"So Tara," Shaggy eventually asked as they approached the hotel. "I was, like, wondering if you'd, like, care to go to the movies sometime?"

Tara stopped walking and turned a bright burgundy as Willow's jaw hit the pavement with an audible thunk.

_Wow!_ Willow thought. _One of Mysteries Inc. is hitting on _my _girlfriend, that's so c– Hey! He's hitting on **MY** girlfriend! _

"I, um, I-I-I-I c-c-c-can't, I-I-I-I-I," Tara started, stuttering so badly she could barely talk.

"She's my girlfriend," Willow said forcefully, grasping Tara's freehand. Relieved, Tara nodded.

"Oh," Shaggy said awkwardly. "I, uh…"

"F-friends?" Tara asked.

"Friends." Shaggy smiled. He transferred the stack of pizzas to his left hand and they shook hands. "I'm gonna go get the door," Shaggy said as he let go of Tara's hand. The rooms Mysteries Inc. were staying where on the ground floor and had doors opening to the parking lot. Tara and Willow lagged behind a bit as Shaggy fumbled with food and keys.

"Yours," Tara whispered quietly, pressing their foreheads together.

"Always and forever," Willow agreed. She was unable to even try to prevent a wide, blinding smile from spreading across her lips.

"Wuh-oh," Scooby said as Shaggy dropped the keys.

"Oh man," he grumbled as he bent down to pick them up. He fumbled around for them on the ground, unable to see them in the darkness that had fallen as they crossed the parking lot. A low growl sounded next to them. "Hungry Scoob?" Shaggy teased.

"Vwasn't me," Scoob replied. A pair of glowing yellow eye emerged from the darkness beside Shaggy, who was still bent over looking for the keys.

"Waggy…" Scooby warned.

"Hang on Scoob," Shaggy said as his fingers encountered the cool edge of metal.

"Waaagy!"

Shaggy straightened up as the creature growled again.

"Not your stomach."

"nuhuh."

"Vampire right behind me."

"uhuh uhuh," Scooby confirmed, all four knees trembling.

Shaggy and Scooby let out ear piecing shrikes as the Vampire pounced on Shaggy.

At the sound Tara and Willow jerked apart and sprinted for Shaggy.

"Absisto!" Willow screamed, throwing out her right hand. A wall of white energy pulsed out of her outstretched hand and slammed into the Vampire, knocking him off Shaggy before he could bite down and scattering the remains of the pizzas across the hotel wall.

"Shaggy? Scooby!" Velma called as she and Daphne poked their heads out of the next door down in time to see the Vampire fly past. "Jinkies!"

"Watch out!" Tara screamed at them as the Vampire stood up and launched himself at the nearest warm body: Daphne. They fell backwards through the door. Daphne failed at the Vampire with the hairbrush she had been using when Velma had heard the commotion outside. She connected with the vampire's nose and the head of the brush snapped off. The Vampire pulled back, not releasing his grip on her, and snarled more in anger than pain.

Tara reached them first and paused outside the room. Quickly she chanted "DESINO ITUM, GLACIALAS PRAVUS!" Tara slowly crumpled to sit on the ground as the energy for the spell left her and shook her head a few times as if to clear it.

Immediately ice crystals formed on the vampire, freezing him in place on top of Daphne. Getting a good look at his 'game' face for the first time, Daphne shrieked, and desperately tried to shove him off her. The jagged handle of her hairbrush, still clenched in her fist, pierced the undead's heart as she struck his chest and he crumbled to dust.

"Everyone okay?" Willow asked as she reached the doorway brandishing her cross. She knelt by Tara, who placed a calming hand on the redhead's arm.

"Daphne!" Velma cried, helping her friend stand up as Willow did the same for Tara.

"I'm fine," Daphne said. "Ugh, I'm covered in dust… it's in my hair!" She frantically brushed out her clothes. "What the hell was that?"

"Vampire," Willow said causally, shrugging. _Wow_, Willow noticed, Daphne and Buffy really did look _a lot_ alike. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No."

Velma bent to study the dust. "Vampire: A reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of people turning them into Vampires. Immortal but can be killed by sunlight, holy water, beheading, or by being stabbed through the heart with a shaft of wood. Judging from the dust this was the real thing."

"No kidding," Shaggy said as he and Scooby joined them inside. "Too real if you ask me."

"There goes our vacation," Daphne said. "If Patrick knew about this he is going to be in so much trouble."

"What I don't understand is how he came inside," Velma pondered. "I thought they had to be invited."

"Public building," Willow explained. "Things like hotels and college dorms are public domain so Vampires don't need an invite, they can just come in, la-dada-da-dee, never mind the fact that you're staying there. Oh! I'm Willow and this is Tara."

"Hi," Tara said half waving with her right hand while she nervously picked at her skirt with her left hand. Her eyes darted from Daphne to Velma before returning to the ground.

"It's really, _really_, nice to meet you," Daphne said. "A few seconds later and I would have been dead, or undead. Thank you."

"That was a really nice spell you did Tara," Willow reflected. "I don't remember that one in any of the books; you'll have to teach me sometime."

"S-sure."

"So I take it you guys are white witches. You didn't seem surprised by the Vampire, do you run into them allot?"

"Vampires, Sunnydale, kinda go hand in hand what with the Hellmouth and all. We're friends with the Slayer." Willow said, beginning the traditional explanation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Latin meanings:

Absisto: 'go away' or 'desist'

Desino itum, glacialas pravus: rough translation 'stop movement, freeze evil'


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The chime over the Magic Box jingled as Buffy entered the closed store. The place was dark and eerily empty. Actually, the shop had always given Buffy a slightly creepy feeling. Eyes of newt (or salamander or some sort of slimy amphibian) were sitting right on the counter for goodness sakes! A major 'Eww!'

"Giles?" Buffy called, walking carefully into the main part of the store, her eyes scanning the shadows.

"Ah, Buffy good," Giles said, appearing at the railing of the upper section of the store. "I've found something rather disturbing." His suit looked rumpled, and Buffy suspected he might have been studying for hours, or days, without a break.

"Oh, well good. Have you eaten? You look tired."

"No," Giles said slowly. "Very not good, I'm afraid. While I can't tell you how much I um, appreciate the 'mother henning' there is serious evil to be dealt with."

"Right. So, I'm the Slayer; I'll find, kill, save world. What's up?"

Giles walked down the spiral stairs to met Buffy. "It says here," he indicated a dark musty book griped in his left hand. "That every thirty five years the most devoted of the demonic races is given the opportunity to perform a ritual sacrifice. If my calculations are correct, two days from now these demons will gather to perform the ritual and kill twenty-three siblings."

"Twenty-three? Giles that's slightly ridiculous, nobody would give birth to that many children."

"Not human siblings. The demons will, um, well they will sacrifice their own."

"Okay, I'm failing to see where this is bad."

Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "Buffy, if this ritual goes through it says here 'For every life taken a thousand lives will be given. The strongest will beget stronger and their numbers shall increase to outnumber the stars and assault the heavens.' It's a fertility ritual. If we don't stop it, the deaths of these twenty-three demons will result in the birth of thousands of stronger demons." He put his glasses back on. "The world would be over run. Not even you could take out so many. They would overpower the forces of good through sheer numbers. We're facing an apocalypse."

"So how do we stop it?" Buffy got right to the point.

"We don't let them complete the sacrifice. I propose that we capture one of the demons and keep it here until the deadline for the ritual has passed."

"Take it alive, I can do that. Riley does it all the time, can't be that hard. Where do I find them?"

"Well, I don't know exactly," Giles said in an embarrassed tone of voice. "Actually, I don't even know what type of demon we're looking for." He opened the book and began flipping pages. "Ah, here: 'The children of the sacrifice will be mirrors of one another, they shall wear the color of their death and look upon the world through eyes stained with the blood they will give.'"

"So we're talking black demons with red eyes?" She brushed her hair out of her face.

Giles looked at his slayer with pride. "Yes, I believe so, but I'm not certain."

Buffy put her hand on Giles arm. "You stay here and research this some more, I'm going to met Riley for patrol and let him know what's up. Oh, but you should eat something first, and maybe take a nap?"

"Buffy I don't think you understand-" He said, annoyed.

"Giles," she said softly, all trace of playful silliness gone. "I do understand. I understand that if I don't get out there and patrol the regular demons and vampires are going to kill more people tonight. We _will_ find this evil and stop it, but I'm not any help here. I need to be out there where I can do some good, so I am counting on you to stay here, be my Watcher, and figure this out for me. It's not like the demon is going to be delivered to our door with a bow around its neck, if I'm out there maybe I'll spot it."

"You're right, of course," Giles said, impressed with his charge. "But Buffy, be careful."

"You can count on it." She said with a small smile, and then she was gone out into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Later that night, or rather very early the next morning, Willow was staring up at the ceiling of her and Buffy's dorm room picturing kittens scrambling over a large white fence. Traditionally she knew that one was supposed to picture sheep, but sheep, being of the four legged barnyard animal family, where very similar to horses if one stopped to think about it. Not rest full at all. Of course, seeing as the digital red 1 had just become a 2, kittens weren't very restful either, cute and cuddly but not dreamland material.

Plaintively exhaling a large puff of air Willow yanked at the collar of her PJ top irritably. She was wearing a plain cotton t-shirt and it just didn't feel right; her oversized jersey was at Tara's dorm. It always felt silky and cool against her skin whereas the cotton just made her hotter.

Being away from Tara didn't feel right, period. The dark walls, the scent of candles blending with herbs, the twinkling lights… the tingle of magical energy, the warm burning she felt when she was even in the same room as Tara…. Ugh, Willow was never going to be able to get to sleep.

"I should just go over there," Willow muttered aloud. "I should just get up and go. Well maybe put some real clothes on first. Only a short walk and I'll be there. I mean it's not like I'm going to get to sleep here so staying would be totally unproductive. And I need rest; classes tomorrow. Classes taught by Mysteries Inc.! Well, class. But, wow! And I should be rested, so I should go to Tara. I can just tell Buffy about them tomorrow. She'll probably stay with Riley after patrol anyway. So nothing's stopping me from going. Just my two stupid feet which aren't walking. So, going now."

Knocking back the sheets Willow reluctantly slide her bare feet onto the chilly floor. She was about to stand up when the door swung open and Buffy flipped on the over head light.

"I'll just grab-" she was saying to Riley, who followed her in. "Willow! You're here. I didn't think you would be here, kinda figured you'd be at Tara's. I'm sooo sorry."

"I am, I mean, I was about to get dressed and go over there. I was planning to tell you about Mysteries Inc. but I didn't think you'd be back. And, well, I had trouble sleeping."

Buffy made an 'aww' face as Willow blushed and plowed on.

"So, you bring Riley here while I'm in my pajamas. Totally not embarrassing at all. Nope, very not embarrassed right here."

"I'll just wait outside then," Riley said. He shut the door gently behind him.

"So are you going back to his place?" Willow asked as she changed into jeans and a green top with quarter length flare sleeves.

"Nah, I was actually going to stop back home and sneak Dawn's present into the house."

Willow grinned and stuck her fingers through the wire cage so the present could inspect them. She giggled as the bunny's twitchy nose brushed against them. "I'm going to miss him," Willow said in half baby talk. She stroked the charcoal fur with her pointer finger and withdrew her hand. "But not too much, 'cause, y'know, wrath of the RA, if she finds him, might be considered apocalypse-y." She paused. "We're still having that Scooby meeting at your house tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Giles found this new demon thing."

"Cool. I hope you don't mind but when we walked Shaggy and Scooby Doo-"

"How did that go?" Buffy interjected.

"Great!" Willow's eyes lit up with her enthusiasm, causing the dark green to literally sparkle. "Well, maybe not 'great' 'cause, you know, vampire attack not really 'great.'" Seeing Buffy's look of confusion Willow started to launch into an explanation. "After Shaggy asked Tara out," Willow's lips twisted.

"WHAT? He asked her out! Oh Will', what did you do to him?"

"Nothing! Really. Well, I might have gotten a _little_ possessive and large with the butch…. Anyway after _that_ a vampire attacked Shaggy right outside the hotel. I knocked him off Shaggy. But then Daphne and Velma showed up and Tara froze the Vamp when he went after Daphne, who staked him. They where so cool! I invited them to the Scooby meeting. Is that okay?"

Buffy looked away. The look on Willow's face could have been described as puppy-dog eyes, except it wasn't deliberate. Internally, Buffy suppressed a sigh. It was just that adding others to the mix, like Faith or the Incentive, never worked out. With effort, Buffy pushed the territorial part of her nature in the background. "Yeah sure Will, its fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know how enthusiastic you guys are about Mysteries Inc." Buffy tried to sound excited. "And I would kinda like to meet them too; compare notes."

"Thank you," Willow said, giving Buffy an excited hug.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

The next morning Willow sat eagerly on the edge of her seat waiting for class to begin while Buffy slumped in the chair beside her. However, today most of the class' posture resembled Willow's rather than Buffy's, which was highly unusual. Buffy thunked the end of her pencil against an unmarked page of her notebook and tried to ignore the way Willow was practically dancing with excitement in her seat and the high pitched chatter around them.

Thunk. Thunk.

"—but it was really just the old guy trying to make a few bucks…"

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

"—Snow Ghost? Please! That was a cover for jewel thieves…."

Thunk-Thunk. Thunk-Thunk.

"—cave filled with cats that suck your soul…"

Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk. **Snap!**

_Oh crap!_ Buffy thought, staring at the jagged end of her pencil.

"Pst, Will, do you have a pencil I could borrow?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." Willow bent over and unzipped the pouch in her backpack that held her pens, pencils, and multicolored highlighters. A sudden hush fell over the class and Willow promptly forgot about the pencil. Grinding her teeth Buffy leaned back in her seat.

"—Please welcome our guest lecturers on the sociology of the criminal mind, the members Mystery Inc. professional ghost busters."

The auditorium burst into applause as Velma shook hands with the Dean and took the podium, flanked by Shaggy and Scooby.

"Hey, I ain't afraid of no ghost!" a jock in the back shouted. Laughter rippled through the auditorium as those denizens of sunnydale still oblivious to its hellmouthy nature giggled.

"Really?" was all Velma was able to say before the lights flickered and went out. Several people screamed as Buffy's Slayer senses kicked into high gear. "We are all afraid," Velma continued in the darkness. The lights came back on revealing Fred and Daphne near the switches. "It's human nature to fear things we can not see or understand. In most cases these are legitimate fears; while there may not be actual vampires, demons, or other fantastical bogymen, historically humans have not always been the top predator. Even today, while one would never expect to be attacked by a malevolent spirit or mundane wolf, I'm sure everyone here knows someone who as been mugged simply walking to their car at night. The criminals we track down have learned the advantage of exploiting these intrinsic fears that reside in the subconscious of every human…"

As Velma continued to speak Buffy sank lower in her chair. _Black demon, red eyes… Lubber Demons? Pointy eared raccoon masked pain in my ass…es?... Religious. Certainly they've got that devoted crap down. Grey is fairly close to black…._

_Twenty-three kids and they _**want** _a fertility ritual?_

"…and the criminal mind perceives this as…"

_Can Hellhounds come in black?_

An hour later Buffy blinked glassy eyes and tried to wake herself back up as she and Willow headed out of the lecture hall and towards food. They where accompanied by an excited flow of babble that Buffy made no effort to understand knowing her friend wouldn't take offense.

"Wait," Buffy said, tuning back in. "What about Dawn?"

"She's lucky; Mysteries Inc. are visiting Sunnydale High this afternoon, before the meeting. All that stuff they talked about, I mean, wow! And-"

_Mysteries Inc. is visiting the hellmouth? _Buffy thought, loosing track of Willow's monolog again. The though made her uncomfortable. "They're visiting the Hellmouth? Do they know about the hellmouth?"

The look in Willow's eyes told Buffy the answer.

"Okay," Willow said. "So Mysteries Inc., professional ghostbusters, and, um, demon fighters, with a reputation for poking around known haunted locations, are going to visit a school, build over a hellmouth… That's not too bad? Is it? I mean, it could be worse?"

_Crap._ The though could have belonged to either Willow or Buffy.


	6. Chapter 6

I apologize for the delay and the shortness of this next chapter, I was away for most of the weekend and then had to box stuff so carpet could be put down (how do I have so much junk?). Oh, there are several inconsistencies with this universe and the true Buffyverse. At this point I'm just going to say 'oh well' and use the AU disclaimer although I may try and fix it later. Thank you to BlueDove for pointing it out to me and another big thank you to everyone else who reviewed; unlike the animals at the zoo you may feed the author.

CHAPTER 6

"Oh Man, Fred, I don't like this," Shaggy whimpered as they crept through the dank corridor that led to the basement of the school. The dusty wall and ghostly lines of overhanging spider webs were all but invisible in the dim light of Fred's flashlight.

"Oh! Oh! Ew!" Daphne shrieked hopping backing. "I just stepped in _rat droppings_!"

"Actually, the feces are too big for rat droppings," Velma sighed. "It's most likely a larger rodent. Come on," She said, both amused and annoyed by Daphne's look of horror. "We have to figure out what's going on."

"How do we know there's anything going on?" Shaggy squeaked.

"If you think nothing's going on then why are you so nervous?" Velma countered.

"Cause we're going to visit a Hellmouth," Shaggy squeaked in an even higher pitch.

"Uhuh, Uhuh." Scooby contributed.

"Are you two men or mice?" Velma asked, frustrated for the umpteenth time.

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other.

"Mice!" they exclaimed together.

"What about if I give you a Scooby Snack?"

"Like, we really ought to figure out where she gets these things," Shaggy remarked as he and Scooby munched contentedly.

"You know Velma," Shaggy said, after a moment. "I get why Fred's into this, but, like, why are you so convinced that something's up?"

"I saw Patrick's picture in one of those all school photos in the main hall." _Framed and dated there it was in the main hall of the school. Patrick stood in the second row… with his arms around Willow in the row in front of him. Second row, fifth from the right: Daniel P. Osborne._ "I _knew_ there was something he wasn't telling me. There's something strange going on here."

Pointing out that this was a given in a town that required a Slayer to an emotionally wounded Velma did not seem like a bright idea. Mysteries Inc. continued in onward in silence.

They came to another fork and Velma carefully marked the right side passageway with Daphne's least favorite lipstick. Rounding the corner last, Shaggy and Scooby walked directly into Daphne, who had stopped.

"What the hell is that?" Fred asked.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Buffy paced back and forth beside the dinning room table occasionally dragging her nails across its surface. The front door opened causing all five occupants of the room to straighten, their attention nailing Riley in place. Upon recognition they all looked away, disappointed.

"Well that's a friendly greeting," he remarked, sardonically.

"They're late," Willow said, glancing up at him and back down at hers and Tara's joined hands. Evidently she found that to be explanation enough.

"Who?" Riley asked, his face, somewhat farm-boyishly, displaying his confusion.

"Mysteries Inc.," Dawn said.

"They haven't returned from visiting the Hellmouth," Giles finished.

Riley opened his mouth to respond but before he had a chance to say anything the front door opened again.

"Hi every-" Xander started, pausing as Anya stop stock still beside him, turning ashy.

She shrieked in utter terror and ran out of the house.

Everyone stared at the space she had occupied then hurried to follow her.

"Anya?" Xander called walking down the porch steps toward where his girlfriend stood in the road, ringing her hands. "What's wrong Honey?"

She ran to meet him in the middle of the sidewalk and flung her arms around him, burying her face in the thin material of his brown t-shirt. Sobs shook her frame and Xander gently wrapped his arms around her.

"I was so afraid I never see you again!" Anya cried. Looking over his shoulder her terror transformed into anger. "This was all _your_ idea wasn't it!" she spat at Willow. "You… you… you…! With you're 'let's make fun of the ex-demon' and…"

Willow looked totally confused and took half a step back from the sheer force of Anya's hysterical anger. Then something snapped inside her, like it always did when she was forced to deal with her best friend's demonic paramour. "What the frilly-heck are you talking about?" She spat back. "I didn't do anything. _You're_ the one that freaked out and ran out the house for no reason!"

"I KNOW it was you! You cast some kind of spell again! I bet you thought it was really funny to bring that bunny here, but just you wait; I bet it'll get you first."

"Bunny?" Willow said slowly. She blinked and barely managed not to giggle. "This is about the bunny?"

"It will kill us all, with its floppy ears and twitchy nose!" Anya proclaimed, seeing their expressions change from concern to ill concealed humor.

A glance back through the open door showed the rabbit, clearly visible in the hutch that Buffy had brought home last night, curled up in a tiny dark ball with its eyes tightly closed. Its nosed twitched as it dreamed and its long ears shuddered once.

"I'm sorry Anya," Buffy said, mostly straight faced. "I brought it here last night, I forgot you where afraid of them."

"So you're keeping it captive until you can Slay it?" Anya asked hopefully.

"No! No Slaying," Dawn said animatedly. "It's mine. It's a pet."

"A _pet_!" Anya screeched. "You're keeping one of those beasts as a PET?"

"His name is Jellybean," Dawn offered.

Anya opened and closed her mouth several times but no sound emerged.

"So about the missing ghostbusters-" Riley began when it became clear Anya was incapable of speech.

"Oh fine, ignore me! I've only been a demon for the past couple centuries, what would I know about dangerous evil? --Dangerous evil that you brought inside your very home and gave cute pet names to?"

"We'll deal with the bunny later Anya, you don't have to go near it. Right now I think we need to head over to Sunnydale High and see if we can locate Mysteries Inc." Buffy said answering Riley's unfinished question. She had _known_ it was a bad idea to get outsiders involved in the Slaying.

"Great!" Dawn said. "I'll just get—"

"_No_," Buffy said. "You're staying here."

"But-"

"Buffy," Giles interceded. "It might be best to let Dawn come along. We are unlikely to run across anything truly dangerous and she could get into more trouble if she follows us on her own."

"Fine," Buffy said. "But if I tell you to get out of there, I want you to do it, no questions. Run as fast as you can until you get someplace safe."

"I promise I'll be good!" Dawn said earnestly.

"Tara, I want you to watch out for her. If things get bad make sure Dawn's safe."

Tara nodded in acceptance. She could see why Buffy picked her, but Tara thought she might have been better with someone else. Tara wasn't that powerful and didn't know if she could truly bring herself to leave Willow if things got apocalypsy, despite whatever Tara might tell herself to do or how much she cared about Dawn.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: I know its late, much apologizings, but I decided to go ahead and finish it. Oz is very difficult to write. I hope it was worth the wait, enjoy.

CHAPTER 8

Daphne relaxed and leaned against Fred's back, after giving one last futile tug at her bonds. "Well this is just peachy!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "Tall, dark, evil, and _old_ actually knows how to tie knots!"

"Now can we go to the witch meeting?" Shaggy, also tied back to back (with Scooby), rhetorically questioned.

"Shhhh!" Velma hissed.

"Witch meeting?" Their captor asked, his voice actually made pleasant by a rich English accent. He strode across the sand covered floor towards them.

"Ri don't know, vwhich vweeting?" Scooby asked, attempting to play dumb.

The man ignored him and knelt down in front of Velma. "Tell me about this witch meeting," he repeated, his voice dropping for a more menacing effect.

"Willow and Tara are holding a meeting with some of the local covens to go over the spell they found to stop you. However, I don't think it will be necessary if this is the best you have to offer. We could just take care of him now _Slayer_." Velma said with as much contempt as she could muster, silently willing Daphne to play along.

"Slayer!" He jerked back, and looked at Daphne with wide eyes in the dim torch light.

"As if!" Buffy exclaimed from the entry way, illuminated by a multitude of tiny Tinkerbelle lights, courtesy of Willow and Tara. "Aside from some… slight…physical resemblance we're nothing alike. I mean, a purple jumpsuit with a rainbow under one arm? It's not the eighties anymore; can you update the wardrobe a little?"

"_Excuse me!_" Daphne exclaimed, insulted.

"Can we save the fashion comparison for later?" Velma entreated sarcastically. "Like maybe sometime after we are untied?"

"By all means," Buffy said coolly. She stalked slowly across the sands towards Ethan. Willow and Tara stayed ready, prepared to counter any magic Ethan might attempt, while Anya, Xander, and Riley went to untie Mysteries Inc. Ethan shrank back as Buffy reached for him. Moving at incredible speed, she grabbed his coat lapels and lifted him off the ground.

"What are you planning," Buffy asked causally as she tossed him a couple feet away. Ethan rolled in the sand and levered himself to his feet.

"Bloody hell, woman!" he exclaimed, wiping the blood away from a cut on his lip. "I'm just here to officiate a minor ritual. Though it would be good to drop into town for a few laughs, look up Ripper. The rabbits can bloody well officiate their own sacrifice, if they ever find the missing bugger!"

"I TOLD YOU!" Anya shouted. "I TOLD YOU BUNNIES WERE EVIL!"

"'That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!'" Tara said in a truly horrible English accent. "Uh," she mumbled weakly when everyone turned to look at her. "It's f-from Monty Python…."

"'Ay, that's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!'" Fred exclaimed. "I _love _that movie. Why are we talking about killer bunnies?"

"Bunnies, the most devoted of the demonic races are _bunnies_?" Buffy said, looking at Giles in disbelief.

"Ermh, ah, well…" Giles prevaricated.

"Does this mean we can go home now?" Shaggy asked.

"What about him?" Riley questioned, jerking his thumb at Ethan.

"I can deal with him," Giles said softly. "Perhaps it is best if you all went home, explanations can wait until you've moved to a safer local."

After herding everyone out, promising full explanations from the slayer, Giles crossed the sand to Ethan's side and offered him a hand up.

"Bugger those meddling kids," Ethan grumbled, wincing as he stood. "So, Ripper, can I interest you in a drink? Talk about old times… perhaps rekindle things?"

* * *

Velma brought her hand in a tight half-circle in front of her, gesturing as she spoke. "…So rabbits are really demons and tomorrow night they are gathering to perform a fertility ritual, which is what we stumbled on to?" She summarized.

Buffy nodded, ignoring the way Willow, Daphne, and Dawn's lips twitched.

"And the old black-magic guy?" Fred asked.

"He was a friend of Giles when Giles was dark-magic-ticking-time-bomb-destroy-the-world guy," Xander said. "They did spells together. He occasionally shows up to cause some trouble, but he's no match for Giles."

"Anyone worried that we haven't actually stopped the rabbit ritual?" Daphne asked.

"Not really," Buffy said, smirking as she eyed the rabbit hutch, in front of which Anya, holding a giant axe, was standing guard. _Although he's got to go to a new home after the date for the ritual has passed. Anya was right and I am not keeping a demon in the house, even if said demon is a rabbit._ "Any more questions?"

Velma cleared her throat. "Just one," she said almost meekly. "May I use your phone?"

"Sure," Buffy said, puzzled. She gestured for Velma to follow her.

* * *

Velma stared at the phone Buffy had left her alone with before slowly lifting the receiver and punching Patrick's number.

"Hello?" His voice sounded tired.

"Hi Patrick," Velma said anxiously, twisting the coils of the phone cord together into a double helix.

"Velma," he paused awkwardly. "Hey."

Velma took a deep breath. "Why didn't you say anything about Sunnydale? Why didn't you come?" She asked slowly, her voice lilting at the end of her questions.

He was again silent for a moment. "How much do you know?"

Velma drew a sharp breath. "I know about the Vampires, the Slayer, and her friends. I know you went to high school here. I know you knew Willow."

"We dated." Velma pictured his accompanying stoic head nod with that statement, her fingers curling tighter about the phone. "I was part of their Scoobie gang, but I got careless, I got bit… by a werewolf."

"What? But you're not… you don't-"

"Transform? Not anymore. But I did. They locked me up every full moon so I couldn't hurt anyone. But the instincts were… uncontrollable. I met another Were when she was in heat, I cheated on Willow, I couldn't stop myself. I left to find a cure. Traveled around the world until I found it. I'm still a werewolf but I can control the instincts and stop myself from shifting. But by the time I came back…." Velma heard the faint whisper of cloth as he shrugged. "I moved out to Coolsville, started over." Again he paused. "Are you okay with this, with me being part demon?"

"I, I don't know," Velma said. "I mean, yes, I am, I just, why didn't you say anything?"

"I was afraid, if you knew…"

"I would only see your demon half? Patrick, no. You are not evil. I love you."

"…I love you too."

"Are we good?"

She could almost hear his smile. "We're great. Tell me about the trip so far?"

* * *

Xander slumped in his chair, snoring faintly. Anya wasn't sure why, but the sound was oddly comforting. She re-adjusted her grip on the axe, her eyes roaming the dark hall of the Summer's home. Behind her, though wire mesh, fiery eyes stared unblinkingly at the silver edge of Anya's blade as the slow second hand continued around the face of the clock.

**THE END**


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